Wall Street Journal plans revamp

The Wall Street Journal wants to attract new, younger readers

The Wall Street Journal has unveiled plans to cut the size of the newspaper and revamp its website edition.

The iconic US business paper said the smaller size would result in 10% less space for news, with more breaking news stories being shifted to its website.

Publishers Dow Jones said the paper would focus on increased analysis, more colour and shorter news stories.

The Wall Street Journal, which has seen its circulation dip in the US, is keen to attract new, younger professionals.

The paper said the slimmer newspaper edition would be launched in the US on 2 January, and would save the company $18m (£9m) a year.

'Smaller space'

We are not agnostic about which channels readers use, we want them to use both Paul Steiger, Wall Street Journal managing editor

Dow Jones publishes sister editions of the Wall Street Journal in Asia and Europe, both of which were cut to tabloid size last year.

The changes at the key US edition will see the page width of the paper cut to 12 inches, resulting in the loss of one of its current six columns of text.

But the move means the Wall Street Journal would be in-line with a newspaper size increasingly common in the US industry, allowing the paper to be printed and distributed more widely.

"That doesn't mean we will get out of the 'what happened' business," said the paper's managing editor Paul Steiger. "We will squeeze that announcement news into a smaller space."

He added that more content, and more statistical data, would be placed on the newspaper's website.

"We are not agnostic about which channels readers use, we want them to use both," Mr Steiger said.

However, despite the shake-up, many of the Wall Street Journal hallmarks will remain the same.

The newspaper said it planned to retain its "What's News" front page listing, and keep its "stipple dot" drawings of key people used to illustrate stories.